Expert: Fr. Michael - 2/28/2011

Question
I have read your comment on 'Just War' and I have read some of Aquinas and Augustine. I am a practicing Catholic. What I have problems with is the handling of 'collateral damage' in these texts. The just war allows for incidental innocent deaths as a result of war action. Am I wrong in being confused that the Church condemns death by abortion yet justifies death by war? Is the commandment "Thou shalt not kill" explicit in its simplicity?

Answer
The principle is simple:  one may not kill a human being DIRECTLY.  But is permissible to perform a reasonable operation on a woman to preserve her health.  If such an operation results in an INDIRECT spontaneous abortion, that is morally justifiable.  Just so, in a just war, if one attempts to target the enemy DIRECTLY, and other presumably innocent people are INDIRECTLY killed, that is morally justifiable.

The Commandment is actually not that simple, since it does not include justifiable killing, of which there are many examples.  We kill animals for food.  We kill a robber who threatens our life or the life of others at the scene.  We kill a grievous felon with capital punishment.